Hello, Friends and Family,
I apologize: I became distracted from my usual blog posting yesterday, when I simply had to write about the French language. However, now I am back to my normal self, and I will tell you about our adventures yesterday.
As you know, we had been having rain here in Paris for the previous three days; therefore, we were very happy when we awoke up to a sunny day yesterday, Easter Sunday. We left the apartment at 8:30 a.m. to go to church services at the American Church of Paris, which is just a few blocks away. I am glad we had sense enough to dress warmly, as the temperature outside was 37 degrees Fahrenheit and a brisk wind of about 15 miles per hour.
The church is Protestant and has been a haven for American students , ex-pats, business people, as well as tourists since 1857. The church has an adult choir of about twenty or twenty-five members, and a smaller children’s choir. The church also has a hand-bell choir (not certain if that is the correct term), but this group performed several musical pieces. The children’s choir was fun to watch as well as hear. One little boy stuck his fingers in his ears, as apparently the performance of his choir mates didn’t meet with his approval. At the end of the service, the organist played “Hallelujah Chorus”, by G. F. Handel, and we were all invited to sing along, which we did, of course.
After church services, Frank and I took a city bus across town. The Number 69 bus starts at Champ de Mars, near the Eiffel Tower, and ends at the eastern edge of the city, near the Pere Lachaise Cemetery. Riding on this bus is almost as good as riding on a hop-on, hop-off bus, as it goes past many major sights, and only costs 1[euro].
Once we got off the bus and started walking, we just had to stop at a cafe and Frank was able to get his favorite French treat, a ham and cheese baguette sandwich, with a beer, of course.
We made our way back to the Louvre by bus, thinking we could take that bus all the way back to our neighborhood; however, traffic was being stopped and no one was allowed to cross the bridge by bus or auto. We could not find out what was going on, but since we had to exit the bus, we just started walking and crossed the bridge on foot. We were pleased to discover that we weren’t being attacked by terrorists, but rather, hundreds of people on rollerblades were going to have a race along the main boulevard.
We were only about two miles from home, and the weather had warmed considerably, so we walked back home, going through a neighborhood where we had stayed four years ago. We went past the Esplanade in front of Invalides, which is a long, big grassy area, some trees, and of course, people playing boules in the park.
I picked out an apartment building that I liked. Unfortunately for me, apartments in this area start at around [euro]1 million. Frank said he would have bought it for me, but again, my loss, since he said he had already invested in his new home in Sun City Roseville. I should have asked him sooner.
Once we arrived back at our apartment, we made our dinner from what we had purchased at the markets the day before. Very tasty, and just the perfect end to a perfect day. I did get my white asparagus, and also roasted some tiny potatoes to go with cold cuts and cheeses. Yes, I have to admit, I also purchased some foie gras. It was delicious. The meal was accompanied by a very nice white wine, Sancerre, which is a dry white wine, similar to a dry Chardonnay. It is very smooth.
So there you have our Easter in Paris. Today we just took another long walk on the Left Bank. While it was enjoyable, we did not see any special sights. But please continue to follow my blog posts, as I am certain we will have more exciting and interesting adventures in Paris.
Au revoir,
Dolly
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